Infinite
by LovelyFarron
Summary: Ichigo is about to face off against the toughest opponent of his life-himself! Caught up in a conflict in his future, he must stop the madman from another reality in which he failed to save Rukia. Losing is not an option because if he does, not just his family but his friends' families as well will cease to exist. IchiRuki, UlquiHime, and others.


Manga/anime: Bleach

Pairing(s): IchiRuki, UlquiHime, and others

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Rating: T

A/N: Spoilers if you haven't been keeping up with the new Bleach chapters.

Infinite

Prologue

Ichigo coughed, his left hand wiping away the blood dripping down his chin. His eyes narrowed as he swayed and he had to plunge Zangetsu into the ground to keep from toppling over.

_Dammit…this isn't good!_

Sucking in a breath, he tried to right his posture, the muscles and various wounds in his body protesting the action with all their might. Why was he punishing them this way? Why was he making them go on when they had nothing left to give? Was he mad? Did he want to die on the very spot he stood?

_Like hell I'm dying here._

Grunting, he pulled his black zanpaku-to out of the soil, almost falling flat on his face as he did so. "That all you got?" he asked cockily, spitting out red fluid as it pooled inside his mouth. "I've fought Quincy that put up a better fight than you."

His opponent smiled, though the young shinigami-quincy hybrid could barely see at this point, his dizziness from loss of blood so great. The world was unfocused, colors swimming and forms blurring. It was a miracle he could move at all after the beating he'd taken. It was by sheer force of will that he was even standing.

"Then come, Kurosaki Ichigo. Attack. Or do you want me to cut you down where you stand?" The voice that spoke was a familiar one, but layered with tones of hate and regret, a dark shadow compared to what it once had been. It spoke of lost innocence, of great agony, of the greatest of tragedies.

"As if you could," Ichigo licked his lips and smiled, even though the edges of his vision were starting to fade into blackness. "Why don't you come over here? Afraid I'll beat your ass?"

"Hm. Still cocky I see. How…sad it is to see this…to see _you_. This youthful naiveté, this fool's hope, this misplaced bravery, this…_love_…you are a pale imitation of what you could _truly _be. Of what _I _know you can be."

"Shut up!" Ichigo screamed fiercely, eyes going wide as something like rage surged through him, making his hair stand up on end and a fresh wave of adrenaline pound through his veins. He was getting more light-headed by the second, but he couldn't back down, couldn't fall. Too much was at stake. "You don't know me!"

"Oh…but don't I?"

There was a cold rush of wind, a tickling breeze, and before Ichigo knew what was happening a cold hand had gripped his chin and forced his head up, his eyes locking with those of his enemy. He gritted his teeth as chocolate brown met vile amber, as his passion met cold and calculating. He didn't want to see this, hadn't wanted to be able to look so close, to fall into those twin cesspools of despair.

Almost as if a movie was playing, events trickled out of his opponent and into his own mind's eye, reflected in the steel cool stare of his antagonist. He wanted to shout out, wanted to cry, but could only watch in silent agony, could only stand there as his heart was torn out of his chest.

_Rukia's execution._

_Getting there too late._

_Watching as her body disintegrated in the flames._

_Howling and screaming and begging for a miracle as he reached for her, almost there, so close, yet so far away._

_Seeing the last look in her eyes, the gaze of peaceful acceptance, of sorrow and thankfulness, her last words, "You came for me. That's all that matters", a light breath on the wind._

_The __Hōgyoku reacting, latching onto the nearest body at the time, fusing with him in his sorrow, intensifying his hate, magnifying the feeling of rain beating down upon his back, turning him into a seething beast._

_Turning around, searching for something to kill, to annihilate in his mania._

_Rukia is dead._

_The rain is falling._

_The moon has stopped breathing._

A sharp breath broke the trance, and if it hadn't been for the man's strong hand on his chin, Ichigo would have fallen to the ground in exhaustion, his emotions raw and festering.

"Fool…I _am_ you."

Ichigo growled, slapping his double's hand away from his chin and then flash-stepping back a few feet. The effort nearly drained him, but he was able to stay on his feet thanks to fury rising within him, the pure loathing and utter indignation at this twisted older version of himself.

"Like hell you are."

His doppelganger snorted, and he closed his eyes as his shoulders began to shake with suppressed laughter. Ichigo wanted to lunge forward and rip his damn heart out, to crush his living spirit with his own hands, tear him to shreds. How dare this…this mockery!...come into his future and kill his older self! How dare he make his future children fatherless! How dare he make Rukia cry! He was nothing like this monstrosity, this echo!

"I can feel it…your hate. That's good."

Black was battling red in the young reaper's vision, his teeth grinding together as he tried to control his temper.

"Screw you, you ugly bastard."

The other him sighed, carelessly swinging his bloodied Zangetsu about as if he was bored. The blade was twisted from its original form; it didn't have the fullbringer upgrades, but it was different somehow, warped almost beyond recognition. Its spiritual pressure had changed as well and a malevolent force radiated out from it.

"Tell you what, Ichigo," the other Ichigo said after a minute. "I'm not opposed to other Ichigo joining me. It's why I came here in the first place in fact. Unfortunately your…future self…didn't share the vision I did. He was still stuck on his foolish ideals…still hung up on useless emotions and bonds…" He smiled and licked his lips. "It was…a pleasure to do away with such an embarrassment."

"Go to hell."

"Oh! I undoubtedly will, someday. But, not today. No, not today…or anytime soon if I can kill those brats of his...but! Ichigo! I'll tell you what…I'll spare your life on this condition…" His doppelganger paused, his grin stretching into something reminiscent of the hollow inside the both of them. "Kill Rukia. _Your _Rukia. Not this future one running about, but _yours_. Make this…" he waved his hands about dramatically. "…time a dream. Make your children never have been born. Save them all some heartache, kill them before they were ever born so they don't have to watch their own father die on my blade. Join me, embrace the gift I'm offering you, and it will never, ever rain again."


End file.
